Somara Smith's father, Edward Mays, 28, says he had been trying to contact DCS for the past three weeks saying they needed to go get his kids, / Larry McCormack/The Tennessean

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Nicole Young

The Tennessean

Edward Benesch is charged in death of Somara Smith.

18-month-old Somara Smith died while parents were in jail.

Jill Smith, 32, was in jail when her daughter died.

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The father of an 18-month-old Dickson County girl tried for three weeks while he was in jail to get the Department of Children’s Services to intervene before the abused child died Thursday, a family member said.

The child’s mother also was in jail when her boyfriend brought Somara Smith to a relative’s house early Thursday morning already dead, TBI agents said. They charged Edward Benesch, 26, of 620 Rocky Drive in Dickson, with reckless homicide and child abuse.

Somara’s father, Edward Mays, 27, “had been trying to contact DCS for the past three weeks saying they needed to go get his kids,” by phone and by letter, said Nina Overton, Somara’s cousin, who was one of the girl’s caregivers.

The girl’s mother, Jill Smith, 32, had been in jail for three weeks, leaving Benesch with her six children, Overton said.

Overton said she noticed bruises on Somara’s face last week and took pictures to document the incident but did not contact authorities.

DCS has been under scrutiny for its role in the lives of children who died, including repeated failures to accurately count and keep track of fatalities.

“Today’s child fatality is a tragedy that is still unfolding,” DCS interim Commissioner Jim Henry said Thursday. “The department has opened an investigation into the fatality and is actively working this case in partnership with law enforcement. We are confident in the safety of the child’s siblings and will continue to gather more information as we move forward.”

DCS officials would not say whether the agency had been in contact with the family before the child’s death, citing an ongoing investigation.

On Feb. 21, Henry said that in his two weeks as interim commissioner, there had been one death of a child in state custody. He said then that DCS was unable to provide accurate numbers of deaths of any children DCS had investigated.

Spokeswoman Molly Sudderth said Thursday evening that she could not provide a count of child deaths so far this year because The Tennessean asked for the 2013 fatality numbers after the DCS office had closed for the day.

State Sen. Jim Summerville of Dickson called what happened to Somara “a tragedy and horror story.”

“I will persist and keep up my determination that DCS be changed from the bottom up,” he said. “I don’t know if they have any fault here, but there are too many stories involving DCS and these situations.”

In October, Summerville and a group of local officials and child advocates in Dickson County called for a meeting with former DCS Commissioner Kate O’Day over the department’s handling of six abuse cases.

The agency’s internal review of those cases concluded caseworkers acted properly in all but one case.

Questions from Dickson County put pressure on O’Day to account for the department’s actions. After mounting scrutiny of the problem-plagued department and public criticism, she resigned in February.

Abuse suspected

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials said Benesch went to drop off Somara at her great-aunt’s house on Brookside Drive in Dickson about 7:45 a.m. on Thursday.

“The boyfriend (told) the relative that he fell on the girl and then (took) off,” said TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm. “He wasn’t there when police arrived.”

Somara had visible trauma to her head, back and chest, Helm said. Paramedics were unable to revive her.

Authorities believe she was the victim of child abuse that occurred at Benesch’s home, according to a TBI statement released late Thursday.

The child’s mother had been in jail for 21 days for non-payment of child support, according to officials with the Dickson County Sheriff’s Department. She was released on bond at 2 p.m. Thursday.

The father has been in jail for about six months on charges ranging from aggravated assault and aggravated burglary to non-payment of child support, the sheriff’s office said.

Overton said the family had suspected abuse for weeks. On Thursday, she was awakened by a knock on the door and 20 phone messages. She arrived at the Brookside Drive home about 11 a.m., shortly before investigators brought the girl’s body out in a small white bag.

“I’m still in shock about it,” she said. “It’s a sad situation because Jill (Smith) wasn’t taking care of these kids. They didn’t ask to be brought into this world and they didn’t ask to be going through what they are going through.